Abstracts for Volume 3 of Peace and Development in 2018

ABSTRACTS

The Current China-Japan Relationship and Its Development Prospect, (Editor’s note) On May 8 of 2018, the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang penned an article for the Asahi Shimbun, entitled Restart the Cause of China-Japan Peaceful and Friendly Cooperation. At the historic juncture when the Chinese premier paid a visit to Japan in 8 years and the China-Japan relationship is improving, the CPDS believed that it is of great significance, not only for China’s development, but also for the benefits of the people in East Asia and the Asia-Pacific region at large, to sort out the China-Japan relationship in over 40 years since the establishment of formal relations between the two countries, look into the future of its development, and review the gains and losses in the bilateral relationship. Therefore, the CPDS organized a workshop in the name of “the Current China-Japan Relationship and Its Development Prospect” on the 10th of May in Beijing, inviting relevant scholars and specialists to discuss such topics as “the 40th anniversary of the conclusion of the Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty as well as the current China-Japan relationship and its development prospect in the future”, “the impact of the American factor on China-Japan relationship, and Japan’s role in the US Indo-Pacific strategy”, “Japan’s strategic trend and the China-Japan relationship from the perspective of changes in Japan’s domestic politics”, “the impact of CPTPP coming into force on regional economic cooperation and China’s response”, and “reflections on and suggestions for the development of the China-Japan relationship in the future”. Now, we publish some of the contents of their speeches for the readers.

The Reform of Japan’s Security Laws and the Evolution of the Japan-US Alliance

By Li Shuo, Doctoral Student from the Institute of Japan Studies, Nankai University. There exist complicated interactions between the reform of Japan’s security laws and the vision, approach and efficiency of the Japan-US alliance. With the evolution of the international security situation, Japan respectively carried out systematic reforms of its security laws in the early post-Cold War period and the during the Abe’s second cabinet, since Japan established its security legal basis in the wake of the Second World War. Meanwhile, the Japan-US alliance has undergone two major changes since its establishment. The Guidelines for Japan-US Defense Cooperation—2015, as a vision for the evolution of the Japan-US alliance for the present phase, highly agrees with the reforms of the security laws promoted by the Abe administration strategically, while deepening the military integration as a way to promote the evolution of the alliance is in a mutually dependent relationship with Japan’s reform of its security laws, which will jointly boost the roles of the Japan-US alliance in regional and international security affairs.

Deepening the Sino-Japanese Economic Cooperation, and Promote the “Strategic Reciprocal”Relations

By Zhang Weiwei, Associate Research Fellow from the Department for Asia-Pacific Security and Cooperation Studies, CIIS. Establishing the Sino-Japanese “strategic reciprocal” relations was proposed by Shinzo Abe in 2006, and the two countries signed the Sino-Japanese Joint Statement on the Comprehensive Promotion of Strategic Reciprocal Relations in 2008. However, since 2010, such incidents as ship collision and the “nationalization” of the Diaoyu Islands occurred, which much worsened the relations between the two countries. At the end of 2014, the two countries reached a four-point principle consensus on improving the Sino-Japanese relations, with their bilateral relationship entering a period of slow improvement. Since 2017, the Japanese government has continued to show its will to improve the bilateral relations with concrete actions, making such relationship warm up again. Last May, Premier Li Keqiang paid an official visit to Japan, bringing the Sino-Japanese relation back on the normal development track. On the new historic starting point, a new basis and driving force have been obtained for the two countries to engage in practical cooperation. Nevertheless, the Sino-Japanese relationship lacks political mutual trust, while the US-Japan alliance will continue to influence the smooth running of the Sino-Japanese cooperation. In addition, the Sino-Japanese cooperation in a third market may also be obstructed by different business models and customs of the two countries. 

Reflections on Re-positioning the SCO in China’s Peripheral Diplomacy in the New Era

By Xu Tao, Research Fellow of CICIR and Guest Researcher of CPDS. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the peripheral diplomacy has been a diplomatic focus of China in the new era, aiming at creating a benign external environment. During the 17 years since its establishment, the SCO has expanded its realm of work gradually from resolving the military and security issues at the border between China and the neighboring former Soviet republics in the wake of the Cold War to cooperation over issues related to non-traditional security, economic recovery and development, and cultural exchanges, which has become an important fulcrum for China’s diplomacy toward Eurasia. At the Astana summit held in June of 2017, the SCO completed its first admission of new members in history. The admission of India and Pakistan into the SCO has greatly enriched and diversified the big family, while putting the organization in the face of more complicated issues of organizational development and mechanism building. The 19th National Congress of the CPC has raised demands with more sense of the time for China’s diplomacy to create a favorable external environment for realizing China’s comprehensive rejuvenation, promote the establishment of a new-type of international relations, keep focused on peripheral diplomacy, and forge a community with shared future for humanity, against the backdrop of uneven development of globalization that has put the world in a period of great development, great transformation and great adjustment. In that sense, the SCO remains an irreplaceable fulcrum for China’s overall diplomacy.

The Development of the Economic War Waged by the Trump Administration against China and　China’s Counter Measures

By Quan Yi, Permanent Member of Pacific Economic Cooperation Council and Research Fellow of the Institute for Asia-Pacific Economic Studies, Fujian Academy of Social Sciences. The Trump administration waging an economic war against China follows not only the economic logic that the US wants to resolve the long existing economic and trade imbalance with China, but also the non-economic logic that China’s rapid rise has upset the power comparison between China and the US, and made both the American government and public frightened. Faced with the unilateral act of the US, China should confront the US in a rational and disciplined way, strive for the resolution of the economic structural imbalance between the two countries through consultation; with regard to the “China Threat” hyped up by the US, China should maintain its strategic resolution, stay calm, deepen its reforms and opening up, and does its own things well; at the same time, strengthen mutual communication with the US to reduce strategic misjudgment, preserve the pattern of competition and cooperation between the two countries, and keep the situation from sliding to an all-out cold war.

The Progress and Prospect of the “Belt and Road” in Central Asia and Some Thoughts on Further Promoting Its Development,

By Chen Chang, Doctoral Student from School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University and Chu Shulong, Professor from School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University. The “Belt and Road” initiative is an important international public goods and a new driving force for development provided by China to the world, featuring a new development of China’s opening up to the outside world and cooperation with foreign countries, and covering about one third of the countries and regions of the world spreading afar from China’s periphery. Central Asia is at the heart of Eurasia, one of the regions directly adjacent to China, and also the hub of the land routes on the landmass of Eurasia and where different cultures meet. Moreover, Central Asia is one of the major regions where the “Belt and Road” passes; a “major region” boarding on China together with South Asia and Southeast Asia, where there are the most cooperation projects with the greatest momentum under the “Belt and Road” framework. Therefore, it calls China and countries concerned to make joint and sustainable efforts to promote the development of the “Belt and Road”, and strive for more, bigger and more outstanding development and cooperation outcomes.

On the “Belt and Road” and the ROK’s Strategic Response

By LyuChunyan, Professor and Doctoral Student Supervisor from Luoyang Foreign Language School, PLA Information Engineering University. How the ROK would respond to the “Belt and Road” initiative proposed by China is an important issue in deepening the bilateral strategic partnership by China and the ROK. Although there are diversified cognitions to the “Belt and Road” initiative within the ROK, the positive attitude prevails. The ROK has participated in the construction of the “Belt and Road” mainly through joining relevant international mechanisms, synergizing it with its own development strategies, and deepening economic cooperation with China, in a hope to realize its strategic goals of promoting domestic economic growth, stabilizing the Korean Peninsula situation and expanding its international space. Under the framework of the “Belt and Road” initiative, China and the ROK interact in their bilateral relations on multiple levels, such as geo-politics and regional economy.

The Adjustment of US Space Deterrence Strategy and Its Impact

By Gao Yangyuxi, Doctoral Student from Luoyang School, PLA Information Engineering University. Since 2009, the US has begun to adjust its space deterrence strategy in response to the growing perplexity of the space environment, so as to increase its denial deterrence in the space through strengthening its capacity in space resilience, space system defense and international cooperation in the space. The relative declining of the US strategic position in the space, its reliance on the space making its space assets vulnerable, and the difficulty to apply retaliatory deterrence in the space comprise the fundamental reasons for the US to make adjustment to its space deterrence strategy. However, space deterrence is different from traditional deterrence in strength, resolution and message passing, as the space is characterized by unbalanced vulnerability of the parties concerned, difficulty to trace the attacker, and easily triggering off confrontation in other areas and escalation of war. Moreover, it is more difficult for space deterrence to be effective in the absence of clear international rules governing the space. Therefore, the US space deterrence strategy could do nothing but intensifying the arms race in the space, giving rise to strategic misjudgment, and compressing the space of China’s space activities, which in the end would damage the peace in the space.